Reagan Pleads Anew For End To Iran Affair

President Says He`s Accountable

NORTH PLATTE, NEB. — For the second time in as many days, President Reagan appealed Thursday for the Iran-contra affair to be put behind him so he can get on with the business of governing the nation.

Looking toward the legacy he will leave, Reagan said a concentrated effort to preserve the major accomplishments of his presidency will be ``at the top of our agenda`` during his last 17 months in the White House.

Speaking during a short visit to this western Nebraska town before flying on to California for a 25-day vacation, the President repeated the principal theme of the nationally televised speech he delivered from the White House Wednesday night.

In his Oval Office speech Wednesday night, the President also assumed general responsibility for the Iran-contra affair but took former aides to task for not informing him that proceeds from U.S. arms sales to Iran were diverted to Nicaraguan contras.

However, Reagan did not address the money diversion or any other aspect of the scandal during brief appearances at two separate events here Thursday. ``The fact of the matter is that there`s nothing I can say that will make the situation right,`` he said Wednesday night of the arms-to-Iran furor that has bedeviled his presidency over the last nine months. ``I was stubborn in my pursuit of a policy that went astray.``

Reagan repeated that he had wanted to use whatever means possible to win the freedom of Americans held hostage by pro-Iranian elements in Lebanon, but confessed that ``I let my preoccupation with the hostages intrude into areas where it didn`t belong.``

His only reference Thursday to the Iran affair was a restatement of his contention that he had cooperated in good faith with various investigative bodies to get the facts before the American people.

On the flight to Nebraska, spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said White House operators had logged 1,416 calls from the public after Wednesday night`s speech--with only 271 offering a negative comment.

``The President feels very positive about the speech,`` Fitzwater said.

``The response has been gratifying. He feels the American people have been fair and understanding in their support.

``They want the President to lead and succeed. He will.``

National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci, also speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said Reagan had ``done about all he can now. He`s accepted responsibility and he said there were mistakes.``

``Now it`s time to get down to the real business at hand, to move forward with America,`` Reagan said in a speech at the Buffalo Bill Wild West Arena here.

White House aides said both the White House speech and the visit to this agricultural town in Republican-dominated ``Reagan country`` were part of a campaign to help the President recover his political footing and regain control of the nation`s policy agenda.

Encouraged by recent opinion polls that show most Americans are tiring of the Iran scandal, Reagan tried to use his speech at the outdoor arena here and a separate appearance at a luncheon with local civic leaders to put the worst episode of his presidency to rest.

``There are only 17 months left in this administration,`` Reagan said.

``Some people say that makes me a lame duck, and I should sit back and enjoy myself. Well, the way I see it, back in 1984 you hired me for four more years with no time off for good behavior.``

Reagan expressed optimism about the prospects for a nuclear arms control agreement with the Soviet Union, new peace negotiations in Central America and Senate confirmation for his controversial Supreme Court nominee, conservative U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert Bork.

The President tempered his cautious support for the Central American peace negotiations, however, by reiterating that any final accord must be

``consistent with the interests of the United States`` and the contras fighting Nicaragua`s leftist Sandinista regime.

White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker said that Reagan will decide on his own whether to ask Congress for renewed aid to the contras.

Baker said Reagan had not yet made up his mind, and would base a decision at the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year on ``such things as whether substantial progress is being made`` toward implementation of a peace plan that calls for the Sandinista government to institute democracy and put a cease-fire in place.

``I can`t tell you what the President will do,`` Baker said. ``He can make a decision unilaterally whether to submit a request at that moment.``

Openly acknowledging concern about the record he leaves for posterity, Reagan said he would like to see the achievements of his first six years in office ``pinned down and made permanent`` so they can not be undone by opponents of his policies.

``That`s at the top of our agenda, to lock in and cement the economic progress we`ve made in the last six years,`` Reagan said.

The President argued that the best way to preserve his economic philosophy was by adopting his so-called ``Economic Bill of Rights,``